The Elf Blog

Christmas Countdown - 1 Week

Christmas Eve is one week from today.  You're in the homestretch!

• Finish your baking.  Take cookies to neighbors and friends.
• Wrap your presents.
• Do your grocery shopping for your Christmas Eve and Christmas meals.
• Take a walk around your house (inside and outside) to see if decorations need to be refreshed or if something needs to be tidied.
• Prepare your guest room for any Christmas guests.
• Gather Christmas DVDs and story books to entertain on Christmas Eve and Christmas.  Create a Christmas playlist on your iPod or gather CDs.
• Finalize New Year’s Eve plans.
• Shop for a New Year's Eve outfit if needed or rent a tux.
• Update your list of the gifts you have received so that you are ready to write thank you notes after Christmas.
• Take a deep breath.  You're going to make it.

Christmas Countdown -- Two Weeks

Two weeks from tonight is Christmas Eve.  We're in the home stretch:

• Finish shipping your presents and mailing any cards.
• Finish your shopping. You don't want to be one of the frenzied shoppers on tv on Christmas Eve.
• Update your Christmas card address list as cards come in.
• Begin wrapping the presents you have bought.  (They add to the decorations!)
• Decide on your menus for Christmas Eve and Christmas.  Pick up the non-perishables next time you're at the grocery store. You'll also want to lay in refreshments for the folks who may stop by to pay a Christmas visit.
• Finalize your New Year's Eve plans.

Strategies for Getting It Done

Today is a great time to take stock of where you are in your preparations.  If you aren't on track, here are some strategies to help:

• Make a list of everything you need to accomplish.  Cross off the non-essentials.  Simplify.  Do only those things that are personally meaningful -- the want-tos, not the shoulds.
• Look at ways to cooperate with friends in the same boat.  Doing a lot of one thing is often faster than doing many different things (it's the basic principle of the assembly line).  In Christmas practice, maybe you work with friends so you each make a lot of one kind of cookie and trade.  Everyone gets a nice mix of cookies with less effort.  Or you can trade off baking or decorating or shopping or gift-wrapping.
• Combine events.  Make your Christmas party a decorating party or a baking party.  Use family night to finish off the cards or to pack gifts for shipping.
• Outsource.  Often, time and money are a tradeoff.  You can buy some refeshments for a party -- perhaps a premade appetizer platter or something from a favorite restaurant.  Over the weekend, I picked up some traditional baked goods that will save me time in the kitchen.  Lots of stores offer gift-wrapping.  My local mall has a gift-wrapping service sponsored by the high school.  You can walk out of the mall with gifts ready to put under the tree.  You can also have an office store do your packing and shipping.

Keep your focus on the things that have meaning to you.  Let the rest of it go.

Christmas Countdown - 3 Weeks

Christmas Eve is only 3 weeks away.  Here are this week's tasks:

• Any gifts that need to be shipped have to go this week.  If they are going outside the US, you're already pushing it.
• Finish up your cards so you can get them in the mail by December 12th. 
• Continue shopping.  To avoid rush shipping charges or unexpected back orders, complete all online shopping.
• If you want a quiet evening, especially if the weather is bad, begin wrapping the presents you've bought.
• If you are hosting a party, confirm attendance and shop, cook, and bake.
• Decorations should be up this week (unless you keep to the German tradition of putting up the tree on Christmas Eve).  You don’t have to do everything all at once.  In fact, it can be very pleasant to do a little bit each day and slowly watch the house come alive with the spirit of Christmas.
• Decide what you will wear for your Christmas party, for Christmas Day, and for New Year's Eve.  Drop off any necessary dry cleaning.  Make necessary purchases.  Even plan your accessories.  It's not a bad idea to put the accessories in plastic bags and attach it to the clothing hanger with a clothespin (this hint is especially helpful if you have small children).

Christmas Countdown -- Five Weeks

With Thanksgiving only one week away, this week will mostly be about those preparations.  You need to do the shopping, baking, cooking, and table setting -- or you need to travel.

However, you can do a few tasks to keep things moving:

• Keep working on your cards.  Ideally, by the time Thanksgiving weekend is over, you'll have them all addressed and at least a third written.
• Keep working on your crafting.
• Exchange Christmas gift lists with your loved ones.
• If you are hosting a Christmas or New Year's party, you need to get the invitations out so people can get you on the calendar.

Other than that, focus on Thanksgiving and we'll check in again next week.

Christmas Countdown-Six Weks

Christmas Eve is only six weeks away!  Scary, isn't it?

· You should do some serious work on your cards this week.  Try to finish addressing them and, if possible, start writing messages in them.  If you haven’t done so yet, buy your Christmas stamps.

· Keep up with your crafting.

· Try to do a few hours of shopping this week, either in stores or online.

· If you are traveling over Christmas or New Year’s, finalize your travel plans.

· If you are planning a Christmas party, finalize your guest list.

· Buy all the non-perishables you need for Thanksgiving.

 

Keep plugging along.  Remember, it will all be worth it when you can relax on Christmas Eve.

Christmas Countdown -- 7 Weeks!

Christmas Eve is only seven weeks away and Thanksgiving is only three weeks away!  That means it's time to kick the preparations into high gear.

Here are this week's tasks:

• Begin developing your task schedule for the holiday season.  Put it right on your master calendar.  Write in dates for baking, decorating, writing cards, shopping, cooking, wrapping, crafting, etc.  Keep in mind that some tasks may need to be spread over several days.  For example, some doughs need time to rise, crafts need time to dry, etc.
• Identify areas in your house for various holiday activities: wrapping, gift storage, baking supplies, Thanksgiving staging, card writing.  If possible, keep these areas set until the task is completed.  If everything you need to work on cards is easily at hand, you can take 5 or 10 minutes to write a few notes, address some cards, etc. 
• If you have any presents that must ship overseas, you needs to buy them this week so they can ship before November 15th.

If you are hosting Thanksgiving, here are your tasks:

• Finalize your menu.
• Begin staging the dinner, getting china, serving pieces, table linens, etc. ready and gathered in a single accessible place.
• Create a detailed schedule for your preparation.  Place everything as early in the schedule as possible to reduce stress.  You can shop for non-perishables as early as this weekend.  You can polish silver and iron table linens now.  You can set the table the Monday before Thanksgiving.  Only leave to Thanksgiving morning those things that cannot be done in advance.  The best thing you can bring to the table is yourself, relaxed.
• If you like fresh turkeys, order yours now for pickup during Thanksgiving week.  If you use a frozen turkey, you can buy it when you'd like.  Also get a large plastic bucket and make room in the fridge so you can brine it.

From here on out, we'll be working hard to prepare.  Remember the goal: To look up on Christmas Eve and realize that everything is prepared and you have nothing to do except enjoy.

Christmas Countdown -- 8 Weeks

Thanksgiving is 4 weeks away.  Christmas Eve is 8 weeks away.  (Well, that takes care of scaring you all for Halloween!)

In the last weeks, we've done master scheduling, made lists, and played catch-up.  This week, we focus on taking stock:

• Take stock of your hostess items -- serving platters, fancy table linens, good china and silver, etc.  Does the silver need to be polished?  Do the linens need to be laundered or ironed or replaced?
• Take stock of your cooking and baking supplies.  Do you have enough cookie sheets?  Storage tins?  What cooking and baking basics do you have on hand:  broth, flour, nuts, sugar, vanila, almond extract, spices, baking powder, colored sugars, etc.?
• Take stock of your Christmas cards.  If you bought them in the after-Christmas sales last year, find them.  Make sure you have enough. Also, check your stock of address labels.  Holiday stamps are available at the post office, so you can pick them up at your convenience.
• Take stock of your wrapping supplies: paper, boxes, tissue, tape, ribbons, bows, and gift tags.
• Take stock of your decorations so you'll know if anything needs to be repaired or replaced.

By the end of the week, you should know where you stand so you'll be ready to move forward.  That's the goal.

Christmas Countdown -- 9 Weeks

Christmas Eve is 9 weeks from today.  This week in the countdown is a catch-up week.  By the end of the week, you should have devleoped:

• Your budget.
• Your holiday calendar.
• Your lists (Christmas card, gifts to give, gifts to receive, etc.)
• Your travel plans.

If you find yourself with extra time, start your crafts, paw through your recipe file, and check your inventory of wrapping paraphernalia.

Christmas Countdown -- 10 Weeks!

Christmas Eve is only 10 weeks away!  (I know.  I'm panicking a bit too.)

This week, let's focus on making lists. 

First, make a list of gift recipients.  If you have already bought some gifts, write down what you've bought.  You can also jot down any ideas you might have. You may want to color-code the gifts that will have to be shipped. 

Second, make a list of gifts you might like to receive.  Little ones can write their letters to Santa.

Third, finalize your CHristmas card list.

Fourth, if you will be throwing a party, draft your guest list and let folks know of the need to save the date.

Fifth, using your calendar, block out any existing engagements from THansgiving to Christmas:  family, work, religious, social.  Also, block out some rest time.  You'll need it.

Finally, if you make any gifts, make a list of the things you plan to make and the supplies you'll need.  Make sure you have all necessary supplies on hand or that you have a plan to get them!